WOMEN'S HEALTH

Celebration Plantain Leaf

Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantains usually require cooking or other processing, and are used either when green or under-ripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling or frying. Regions with Plantain crops include the Southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Southern Brazil, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Okinawa, and Taiwan. Farmers grow plantains as far north as Northern California and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal.

Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantains usually require cooking or other processing, and are used either when green or under-ripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a staple food in the tropical regions of the world, treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling or frying. Regions with Plantain crops include the Southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Southern Brazil, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, Okinawa, and Taiwan. Farmers grow plantains as far north as Northern California and as far south as KwaZulu-Natal.